Dr. Lee has an article in M. D. Anderson’s on line newsletter describing proton therapy. This is notable in that the ProtonPals are acknowledged as a support and outreach group. And of course we are. It’s just very nice that a Pal wrote me that he remembers 3 years ago when we were just a mailing list on a clip board in the “gown room” of the proton therapy center.
Joe Landry
Here is a newly released media kit by ZERO The Project to End Prostate Cancer with pages
of supporting references that will prepare you for your discussion with your family doctor, friends
or organizations. It starts out by stating. “Everyone has the right to know they have cancer” .
PSA Test Has Saved Life of Thousands of Men
Here are the sections
Joe Filler, Larry Hock and Hugh Exnicios, the three amigos, complete their treatment on the same day and celebrate with a “tres leches” cake a great TexMex tradition in Houston.
joe l.
Support group meeting will meet on Thursday, March 25th, 2010 From 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in new larger location. Rooms PTC1.1124 and PTC1.1128. The topic -
“What Does Integrative Medicine Look Like: Clinical Delivery at M.D. Anderson”
presented by Laura Fletcher, Director, Place… of wellness Support Group Meeting Flyer
A comment from Dr. Anthony L. Zietman of Mass General Hospital known to the ProtonPals and other patient forums as “On the Fence Zietman” because of his equivocal position on proton therapy for prostate cancer. (Thanks to Carol P from the protoninfo Yahoo Group. )
By Reuters Health
February 18, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Feb 18 - For early-stage prostate adenocarcinoma, high-dose conformal radiation appears to achieve better results than conventional doses, researchers report in a February 1 online paper in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
"The long-term data from this study confirm that higher doses of radiation are more likely to durably eradicate localized prostate cancer than more conventional doses," lead author Dr. Anthony L. Zietman told Reuters Health by e-mail. "As proton beam was used in this study, it also confirms that proton beam is one excellent way to deliver these more effective, higher doses."
Dr. Zietman of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues came to this conclusion after randomizing 393 men to receive a total dose of either 70.2 or 79.2 Gray equivalents.
After a mean follow-up of 7.9 years, men in the high-dose group were significantly less likely to experience local failure (hazard ratio, 0.57).
In the 227 patients with low-risk disease, the 10-year American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology biochemical failure rates were 7.1% in the high-dose group and 28.2% in the conventional dose group. There was also a strong trend in the 144 intermediate risk patients (30.4% versus 42.1%).
Initially, none of the patients had androgen suppression therapy. Later, however, 6% of high-dose patients and 11% in the conventional-dose group required androgen deprivation for local recurrence.
Despite the apparent success of the approach, Dr. Zietman pointed out that the study does not "answer the question of whether or not proton beam is a superior technique when compared with the alternatives such as intensity modulated radiation therapy or brachytherapy."
Also, the paper points out, there was no difference between the groups in overall survival (78.4% with high-dose therapy and 83.4% in the conventional dose group).
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. W. Robert Lee of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, highlights the lack of improvement in overall survival and points out that given the alternative of active surveillance, radiation therapy may not always be the best approach.
"In fact," he concludes, "for the 73-year-old man with low-risk prostate cancer, the best dose may be 0 Gy."
J Clin Oncol 2010.
Last Updated: 2010-02-17 17:57:05 -0400 (Reuters Health)
While doing some housekeeping on the ProtonPals web site and assembling some news for the February newsletter, I re-discovered the video about Pencil Beam therapy that was published last year. It’s an excellent review of the technology and the advances being brought to Houston and the nation by M.D. Anderson. This pencil beam gantry was brought on line and patients were treated starting in late February early March 2009. It was the first proton nozzle of this type in North America, has treated more patients and is one of three in the world.THE VIDEO Video about Pencil Beam Scanning at M.D. Anderson Proton Therapy CenterTHE NEWS BACKGROUNDER Pencil Beam Newsbackgrounder at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Proton Therapy CenterTHE TECHNICAL PAPER World-First Proton Pencil beam Scanning System with FDA ApprovalA three minute program providing information about the use of pencil beam proton therapy for cancer treatment. Hear from experts at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center as well as a patient who talks about his experience.In the video look for Dr. Cox and Dr. Lee AND…1) How protons work and why better than x-rays.2) How the radiation plans are drawn with three dimensional representation on the computer systems by the oncologist and the dosimetrist.3) How the patient is positioned and gantry operates4) The “behind the scenes” look at the gantry and the synchrotron.5) What Tommy Thompson one of the patients treated at the center has to say about the treatment.Please contact me or the PTC for more information.
January’s newsletter covered the New York Times January 24th article about radiation therapy mishaps using the X-RAY technology. (Note all the cases mentioned in the article were treated with X-RAY radiation and NOT proton therapy) The ProtonPals newsletter points out that these harmful accidents while tragic and our heart goes out to the patients, happen very infrequently and everything is done to assure the quality of the service. Responses to the article by several key professionals are highlighted and links are given to complete articles.
The chair of radiation oncology at M.D. Anderson, Dr. Thomas Buchholz responded by pointing out that industry statistics show these harmful accidents happen only 0.00001% of the time. A paragraph from what Dr. Buchholz published.
“Understandably, patients don’t see the expert teams of highly specialized, Ph.D.-level medical physicists, certified dosimetrists and experienced computer specialists who work closely with the patient care teams making sure that equipment is properly commissioned and calibrated at every use, that radiation treatment plans are safe and properly directed, and that therapists are proficient in the delivery of each patient’s customized radiation plan.”
Regarding the M.D. Anderson PROTON CENTER, I’ve included an unofficial comment for the ProtonPals: “At the proton center, the amount of actual machine- and patient-specific quality assurance performed by our Physics team eclipses that of other x-ray practices by a significant degree”.
I know for a fact that the entire team of physicists, dosimetrists, engineers, therapists and nurses reside (or “office”) in the Proton Center and are there in support of optimal treatment results.
To read more please pull up the January Newsletter in the ProtonPals archives.
Mary Hughes returns to the Proton Center Support Group Meeting After a holiday vacation the Proton Center Support group is starting up again and the first meeting of the year will held January 28, and will continue on the fourth Thursday of every month.
Mary Hughes, a Clinical Nurse Specialist will be the featured speaker. Mary received an outstanding reception the last time she spoke to our group. Mary has been with M.D. Anderson for quite a few years and has many awards honoring her skills and work over the years and I can attested to her abilities based on the personal contacts I’ve had with her. This time she will speak about “Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” .
Mary K. Hughes, RN, CNS, has been a clinical nurse specialist in the psychiatry department at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center since 1990. She helps people diagnosed with cancer who have depression, anxiety or other conditions that require medication or therapy. She also serves on the clinical faculty of Texas Woman’s University in Houston and The University of Texas Houston School of Nursing. Ms. Hughes has won numerous awards for her work with quality-of-life issues for people with cancer, including the 2007 Supportive Care Award from the Oncology Nursing Society. She speaks internationally, nationally and locally on quality-of-life issues that affect people diagnosed with cancer. Read email notice sent to ProtonPals mailing list Intimacy, Sexuality and Cancer
One of my favorite Norman Rockwell paintings at Christmas time. Copyrighted by the Rockwell Foundation, Stockbridge, MA. and is in the Rockwell Museum there. Used here with attribution and under the fair use doctrine.
I received this note from a friend of mine in Dallas who completed treatment at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Proton Therapy Center at the same time I did in early 2007. This is his Christmas note to me and his endorsement of the LIVESTRONG Care Plan. The link to the Careplan has received quite a bit of interest from the ProtonPals and we’ll feature more on this in 2010. LIVESTRONG/Metz Care Plan
Joe,
Thanks for the latest newsletter and particularly the link for the Livestrong Care Plan. This information should be provided to each patient when they begin treatment, and, certainly once proton treatment is completed. When you and I completed treatment, the facility was new and didn’t provide any information concerning post-treatment side effects, particularly, that was the experience of those of us living outside Houston who couldn’t attend the monthly meetings at the Proton Center.
The Livestrong link is the most definitive and helpful resource I’ve seen to date. Your continued efforts with ProtonPals is very much appreciated.
Happy holidays to you and your family.
J. Rich M.
I am African American, diagnosed at age 49 with a PSA of 3.0 (having risen 8mo earlier from 2.5) and Gleason of 7 (3+4). I am married with two children. I just read an interview by Dr. Terry Mason. It has 10 questions addressed to an African American (AA) urologist who has an active role in the Chicago area treating and advocating for AA with Prostate Cancer (PC). I found the interview well done. He does not advocate one treatment method, rather, he suggests taking time to research at least surgery and radiation before making a decision. It is worth reading by anyone, particularly, if they, or someone they know was diagnosed with PC.
The usual issue concerning screening continues to be debated. Why? I don’t have the slightest idea. Consider that PC tends to strike AA’s younger, is more aggressive (i.e., higher Gleason), and tends to be more advanced when diagnosed, suggests to me that AA should not hesitate to get initial PSA and DRE perhaps as young as 30. These screenings are not expensive, nor are they painful. At the very least they would provide a baseline from which to monitor patients. Some have said that this could lead to more problems such as needless anxiety and worry. I suggest telling that to the man who at age 39 learns that he has PC with Gleason 10 and evidence of distal metastasis. I’ve met such men since the time I was diagnosed and subsequently treated. None would trade waiting to discover advanced PC at the ‘recommended’ age for dealing with some anxiety earlier in years. As for me, finding out earlier gave more options and hope compared to finding out later.
The article explores the possibility that race plays a role in diagnosis, treatment, and complications due to treatment. I won’t spoil the interview for those who wish to read it. My personal experience is aligned with most of the men who chose PT. Almost universally, we stumbled upon it. I was told surgery was my best option due to my relatively young age, and I was two weeks away from my appointed time with the knife. My wife never let me rest with surgery so I continued to search for something else. Eventually, I asked for a referral to see a radiologist. The radiologist suggested surgery but was willing to screen for Proton Therapy. He said that if I were to chose PT I should consider 6mo of hormone therapy. I also asked to speak to a PC Oncologist. He initially suggested surgery as well. When I told him of my concerns about the potential life long side effects of surgery, he suggested that PT with hormone therapy was perhaps for me a better choice. The fact that I am writing this introduction shows which treatment I chose.
I cannot say that I was treated worse than others, or that my treatment was administered with a different (perhaps worse) precision than others. I feel I was treated for the specific symptoms, age, race, grade of cancer, and potential spread of the disease. Because of my excellent experience I would without hesitation recommend PT. With the exception of the initial diagnosing urologist who (in my opinion) strongly recommended open surgery as soon as possible, no other doctor was so insistent upon a quick decision, nor did they try to overly influence my decision. I feel that I was (in all respects ) properly treated once I slowed down, and took control.
Sincerely, and wishing all men low-steady PSA’s,
Thomas R
